SWEDENBORG FILM FESTIVAL: WINNERS ANNOUNCED

December 7, 2016

Thank you to everyone who attended the film festival and made it such an exciting and memorable day! The screenings of London Overground and Edith Walks were enjoyable, atmospheric and moving occasions and we were privileged to hear John Rogers, Iain Sinclair and Andrew Kötting discuss their work in front of a packed audience. It was a perfect prelude to the competition screening of the shortlisted films in one of the strongest line-ups that there has been and it was not an easy task for judge Andrew Kötting. Nevertheless, as joint winners, we are delighted to announce and congratulate…

The joint runners-up were Karin Gunnarsson for Figure A and Bernd Lützeler for Batagur Baska. Please find below Andrew Kötting’s comments plus links to the films. There were also special mentions for Jacob Cartwright & Nick Jordan for Last Acre; Karen Russo for Haus Atlantis; Charlotte Pryce for Prima Materia; and Angus Carlyle & Chiara Caterina for Into the Outside. Next year’s theme is DREAMS and submissions for 2017 are open now. See https://filmfreeway.com/festival/SwedenborgFilmFestival for details.

Harold Charre’s Savagery

Andrew Kötting wrote: ‘Atmospheric and beguiling – using multifarious image techniques and musical tones to “imply” a story – the experience proved [Guy] Maddinesque in parts – and on each repeated viewing became more compelling’. You can view Savagery here

Toby Tatum’s Toby Tatum’s Guide to Grottoes & Groves

Andrew Kötting wrote:’I really enjoyed this work – animistic and phantomic – hidden presences and trace elements – voices coaxed out the frame by very subtle light and shadow play. I kept wanting “Verushka” to appear within the landscape; and as part of a large projection/expanded cinematic experience the work has enormous potential’ View an excerpt of The Toby Tatum Guide to Grottoes & Groves here. For more on Toby’s work, visit his website: www.tobytatum.com

Bernd Lützeler’s Batagur Baska, joint runner-up

Andrew Kötting wrote: ‘Hypnotic and confusing – why have these people gathered and what are they doing? What are they looking at? Where is the smoke machine? Why did Bernd have his super 8 camera to hand? And it’s all driven by the remarkable music of Guido Mobius – It reminded me in its power to bewitch of Ben Rivers’s The Coming Race – which I adore’. You can view Batagur Baska here. For more on Bernd’s work, visit his website: bernd-luetzeler.de

Karin Gunnarsson’s Figure A, joint runner-up

Andrew Kötting wrote: ‘Wonderfully ambitious and futuristic – I was transfixed despite my strange aversion to high end FX graphics and CGI – but when the magic carpet kicked in the work soared – I was reminded of Jem Finer and Ansuman Biswas’s Zero Genie – which is a very good thing indeed’. You can view the trailer for Figure A here. For more on Karin’s work, visit her website, here: www.karingunnarsson.com